Now that we are well into the autumn, the black-faced spoonbill, borne south on the northerly winds, are migrating to Tainan, where they will spend the winter months. On Saturday the number of spoonbills broke the 1,000 mark, of which the largest single group — 270 birds — nestled in the Zengwen Estuary Conservation Area in Cigu District, with another 238 coming to rest in Cigu’s Dingshan Salt Flats.
In January, BirdLife International carried out a global black-faced spoonbill census and found that the total global population of the species currently stands at 4,400, the first time since the survey began in 1990 that the number has broken the 4,000 mark. Of these, the largest group — 2,407 — chose Taiwan on which to spend the winter, although the peak number of the migratory bird wintering in Taiwan was in 2017, when 2,601 were counted.
According to Chiu Jen-wu, honorary chairman of the Wildlife Conservation Institute of Tainan, last year a total of 1,900 black-faced spoonbills migrated to Tainan, spending the winter mainly in the Zengwen Estuary, the Dingshan Salt Flats, the Syuejia Wetlands and the Sihcao Wildife Conservation Area in Annan District. Another area popular with the birds is the Nanbudai Wetland in Chiayi County.
Photo courtesy of Wang Su-man
照片:王素滿提供
After the first two black-faced spoonbills arrived in Tainan in September, large numbers have come over, flying in on the northerly winds, and the total of over 1,000 birds that have now flown over represents a slight increase compared with the 900 or more that had arrived in Tainan by mid-October last year.
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
深秋後,隨北風而來,飛抵台南度冬的黑面琵鷺數量週六突破千隻,其中以主棲地七股曾文溪口保護區兩百七十隻最多,七股頂山鹽灘兩百三十八隻次之。
今年一月,國際鳥會組織進行黑面琵鷺全球同步普查,全球總數達四千四百多隻,是從一九九○年有鳥調紀錄以來,首次突破四千隻大關,其中台灣度冬族群兩千四百零七隻佔半數最多,但台灣最高度冬數量是在二○一七年兩千六百零一隻。
台南市生態保育學會榮譽理事長邱仁武說,去年台南黑琵度冬數量有一千九百多隻,以七股曾文溪口、頂山、學甲濕地、安南區四草野生動物保護區為主要棲地,嘉義縣南布袋濕地也是度冬棲息熱區。
台南地區今年九月間第一批兩隻黑琵飛抵度冬後,最近因為東北風,大批黑琵陸續乘風而來,總數超過一千隻大關,比去年十月中旬同期度冬數量九百多隻略微增加。
(自由時報)
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A: How does Taipei’s YouBike service charge after the free ride for the first 30 minutes? B: It’s NT$10 every 30 minutes within four hours. A: What a bargain. No wonder Taipei is listed by Britain’s “Time Out” magazine as one of the best 50 cities in the world. B: But I spotted a few English mistakes on YouBike’s Web site. A: I guess that aspect of it still has room for improvement. A: 台北市YouBike前30分鐘免費,之後怎麼算? B: 4小時內每30分鐘10元。 A: 真劃算,難怪台北市會入選英國《Time Out》雜誌全球最佳的50座城市。 B: 不過我在YouBike的網站上看到了好幾個英文錯誤。 A: 看來這個部分還有改善的空間。(By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/ 台北時報張聖恩)
Mullet roe is a highly-priced delicacy typically served during special occasions like wedding banquets or Chinese New Year’s dinners, where families come together in celebration. The mullet roe can be prepared in various ways. It is usually pan-fried but can also be roasted or torched. To cook a pan-fried mullet roe, soak it in liquor or wine and peel off its membrane. Then, it is browned over a low fire and turned several times. Finally, the fried mullet roe is cut diagonally and is ready to be served. This dish is usually served with garlic scapes and daikon slices, but